Productivity for the third quarter of 2017 rose 3.0%, the largest one quarter increase since the third quarter of 2014 and over double the average quarterly growth rate since the start of 2009. This surge is significant, as a lack of productivity growth has been one of the main factors that has kept U.S. economic growth, as measured in gross domestic product (GDP), to an average of just 2.2% since the end of the Great Recession. In fact, the five-year average of productivity growth has been under 1% since the fourth quarter of 2014. Dating back to the start of record keeping in 1947, 1981 to 1983 was the only other period with productivity gr

Master limited partnership (MLP) weakness appears overdone. The Alerian MLP Index has lost 9.3% in 2017 year to date, well behind the S&P 500 Index’s 17.5% return and even the energy sector’s 6.3% loss. More recent performance is particularly surprising given the 30% rally in WTI crude prices since June 21, 2017 — the Alerian MLP Index has been flat over that roughly 4.5-month period, while the S&P 500 has returned 7%. In an environment where many investments look stretched, this is one that has lagged behind and could offer potentially more upside. Here we discuss several reasons the group has struggled and make the

After declining materially during the middle part of October, the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index rallied during the last three trading days of the month, helping the broad bond index eke out a slight gain. High-quality fixed income was under pressure for most of October, as progress was made toward tax reform and economic data continued to improve, pressing yields modestly higher. By the end of the month, dovish central bank action from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE), in addition to the anticipated nomination of Jerome Powell to the Federal Reserve (Fed) chair role, were tailwinds for high-quality

House Republicans released the initial version of their tax reform bill on Thursday, November 2. After months of aspirational outlines and frameworks devoid of detail, this was the real thing: 400+ pages of proposed legislation covering all of the details, including difficult decisions about eliminating some existing tax benefits so that the bill would not add more than $1.5 trillion to the current deficit—the limit set previously in the budget bill. While the final bill will look different from the House’s first effort, this was an important step forward. Here’s our look at the path ahead.

Steps to Passing Tax